


without you

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, jercy is not v important so??, roman!Percy, this story is p irrelevant ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 04:43:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8190467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Will has lost everything.Perhaps it's time he got something back.





	

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy??

“What’s wrong with this? Everything. Everything’s wrong with this but I love it so fucking much.”  
The words reverberate around Will’s brain, a constant dull buzz in the back of his head. It’s awful, terribly so, but it’s the last thing Will has left of him. Besides the music.   
Music, the only way that Will can let out his feelings, express the awfulness of the torture going on inside him. Honestly, the words are pretty simple, but Will knows how to manipulate the notes, the tone, and turn a simple song into a myriad of imploring requests. Maybe that’s why Kayla shoved him into her band; so nothing can separate him and the music, because nowadays it’s the only way he communicates. That’s how he ended up as the guitarist for hit band “The Midnight Campers”.   
Honestly, Will just uses the music as an excuse to vent.  
Concert days are the worst days; in terms of rushing about everywhere. Everyone has somewhere to be, and there is no quiet. It’s alright, though, because he’s proud of his most recent song.  
“Y’all are alright,’ the band’s manager says when they head towards the exit. Everybody murmurs thanks, but the message was for Will. Will is not alright. He hasn’t been alright for four years. He doesn’t know if he will ever be alright, but then Kayla squeezes his hand and he can hear the roar of the crowd as they rush out to take their places. Will’s half-brother, Austin, shouts something into the mic and then Lou Ellen bashes the drums and Kayla plays a chord with the bass and they start to play, Cecil pushing the entire contents of his lungs out through his sax. Like every time, Will allows the music to wash over him in waves, and, for the first time in a while, allows himself to smile. He sounds like- him, he notices, and lets his smile grow.   
They freefall their way through what seems like far too few songs, and then Austin stops.  
“This one is new. Will came up with it- well, he comes up with most of these, but, uh, this one is special. Will, d’you wanna come up here?”  
Will nods, and passes his guitar to Austin as he approaches the mic.  
“Hey, everybody.”  
They all roar in approval, and Will grins. “This song, is, uh- I wrote it for somebody I used to love. Well, I still do, even though I’m pretty pissed, honestly,” he jokes, but over the laughter, he makes eye contact with Lou Ellen across the stage, and the look they exchange means _that was not a joke, not really_.  
“So, uh, yeah,” Will says, and then someone shouts something and Will begins to sing. Every note is a heartbeat, a rhythm made up of everything Will’s life has been since the day he was left, lying in the dust behind a dark motorcycle as it cruises away, taking hopes and dreams with it. It's the story of Will, Will and a brooding boy who had lost so much, and had come so far.  
It's the story of stuffy cabins and sleepless nights; of midnight feasts and fast-moving battles. Maybe the audience takes that as a metaphor.  
It's not one.  
“But then you had to go,” he sings, and his voice cracks, “and drive off into the sunset without me. Then you had to go and just fucking leave.”  
There is loss in Will's voice and in his heart. He is broken, beyond repair, and nothing can change that.

In the back of the room, a brooding boy who has lost a great deal leans against a wall. A tear slips down his cheek as his companion trips over somebody’s leg.  
“I cannot believe,” Percy grins, “that we got backstage to Midnight Campers!”  
Nico only shrugs, he's too wrapped up in the music to pay much attention. Percy nods, and turns to the one singing.  
“He's pretty hot,” he says, and something in Nico lights up, furious and angry and awful. Before he can open his mouth to say anything, however, Percy’s boyfriend, Jason interrupts.  
“You aren't planning on cheating on me, are you?” he asks, to shut Percy up.  
Percy shuts up.  
Abruptly, the music stops, and all that is left is Will. His voice is heart-shattering, as he sings.  
 _Then you had to go and just fucking leave._  
Nico knows this awful sadness is his fault. He would fall to his knees and cry, but his muscles aren't working and he can only stand still.  
 _And I know I will forever be without you,_  
He is sorry, he is.  
 _So please,_  
Please, Will, let me be forgiven.  
 _Get out of my heart!_  
The words hit Nico like a drum, so hard that if he wasn't resting against something, he would fall backwards.   
I'm sorry, Will.  
I was wrong.

Will usually didn’t hate meet-and-greets. Fine, it was sometimes a bit awkward, but he wouldn’t say he _hated_ them.   
Nevertheless, when _they_ walked up to them, one blond boy with striking blue eyes, dragging a darker haired boy with excited green eyes by the hand, trailed by- Will’s breath caught in his throat, and the strange world he had built for himself crashed back down on his shoulders. He stopped signing somebody’s uke to stare at the boy, who was so unbelievably familiar it made Will want to puke. But none of his muscles were working, and he was just staring at the boy, whom the shadows seemed to follow, almost as if they were worshipping him. He was openly glaring at everybody, but Will could see tear tracks etched onto his face as he turned to look accusingly at one of his companions. Will was still frozen, and Kayla had to lean over to nudge him.  
“You good?” she asked, quietly.  
“No,” he whispered, and then Austin noticed the boy.  
“Oh, my god,” Kayla muttered, as she noticed him too, and Austin pulled on a terrible glare and turned on the boy with a face full of anger. “Oh, my god,” she repeated, and ran after Austin as he marched towards the boy.  
Will still couldn’t move, even as Austin began to shout at the boy- at Nico.  
“What the _fuck_ do you think you’re doing here.” It wasn’t a question, more of a threat as security loomed nearby.   
Will used to think the boy was tall, but Austin was far taller.  
“I- I-” The excited boy had come bounding over.  
“Woah, Death Breath, you know _Midnight Campers_?” he exclaimed, bright green eyes not quite grasping the hostility that was radiating off of both of Will’s half siblings. “Why didn’t you tell us?”  
“Because he’s a lying bastard,” spat Lou Ellen from across the room.  
Will still couldn’t move.  
The green-eyed boy faltered, but Nico stood up taller.   
“Perce,” mumbled the blue-eyed boy, and ‘Perce’ looked at him, and then back to the band.   
“Oh…” he muttered, and then glared. “Death Boy-” he began, and Nico tensed.  
“ _Don’t _call me that.”  
It was then that Will gathered the strength to move.  
“I thought you left me,” he muttered, and, if it was possible, those sad brown eyes got even sadder.  
“Never.” Nico began, and Will stared at him. “It was Hazel.”  
“Who?” Cecil asked, as ‘Perce’ said, “What? _Hazel_ made this guy hate you so much?”  
Nico frowned. “Percy?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Shut up.”  
Percy shut up.  
Then, to Will. “She- she was- I found her, _there___ but she’s not even fourteen, really, and all I could think about is Bee, and her father is, well, mine too, so I brought her back.”  
“So? You could’ve just taken her to camp.”  
The blond one frowned. “He did.”  
“What?” Cecil said. “I’m fairly certain that none of Nico’s relatives are at camp, so?”  
“I took her to their camp.” Nico gestured to Percy and the other boy. “Our camp is different.”  
Again, both of Nico’s companions open their mouths, and then shut them again.  
And then, suddenly, Will breaks. He crushes himself to Nico, and, for the first time since he was left all those years ago, he allows himself to cry, a real cry, full of all that he has lost.   
It is strange, really, how easy it is to forgive those one loves.  
“I`m sorry,” Nico whispers. “I`m sorry.”  
And, finally, Will smiles.


End file.
